A netball teacher accused of breaking her lover's jaw burst into tears as she was cleared of wrongdoing today.

Alexa Collier, 26, who previously taught at an independent girls school, was accused of attacking personal trainer Nicola Lees, 28, after Miss Lees turned up unexpectedly on the doorstep of Miss Collier's family home one evening.

A court heard Miss Lees, who had been fed up of not going public during their three year on-off relationship, decided to reveal the truth of their romance to Miss Collier's parents.

Alexa Collier, 26, has been cleared of any wrongdoing after being accused of causing grievous bodily harm to her girlfriend

She was accused of attacking Nicola Lees, a personal trainer, who turned up at her doorstep one evening

But a scuffle broke out between the two girls after Miss Collier's mother Gill, 53, called Miss Lees a 'filthy tramp' and Miss Lees retorted: 'I'm a tramp? Your daughter was in a hotel with me sh*gging!'

The personal trainer was treated in hospital for a fractured jaw, which required surgery using screws and a metal plate, and claimed Collier had punched her in the side of the face.

At Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, Miss Collier, a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University, was accused of causing grievous bodily harm but sobbed as she was cleared after the jury heard Miss Lees may have accidentally sustained her injuries in an earlier incident.

Miss Collier's family cheered in the public gallery as the jury returned its not guilty verdict after deliberating for four hours and 40 minutes. It emerged the case had cost Miss Collier her part time role teaching netball at the £11,600 a year Withington Girls School in Manchester.

After the verdict, Miss Collier, of Chadderton, near Oldham, said: 'I am glad that justice has now been done and the jury were able to see this matter for what it was. I thank them for bringing the not guilty verdict that they did.

'After two years of suffering during which I lost my job due to the allegations and suffered great mental anguish, both myself and my family can now put this behind us and I can get my life back on track.

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'I just want to thank my family and friends for their continued support. Finally, I want to thank my lawyers for all their hard work, helping me get through this experience and getting me the verdict I deserve.'

The court heard the couple met at a sports centre and they began dating whilst Miss Lees had a boyfriend.

But Miss Collier kept the romance a secret from her parents and it broke up when Miss Lees continuously suggested they go public. Despite the break up, the court heard they met up for a tryst in a hotel room.

Miss Lees told the court Miss Collier never made it clear she didn't want to be in a relationship and was scared of 'coming out' to her parents.

She said the doorstep confrontation occurred last July after Collier posted messages on Snapchat and Instagram which Miss Lees perceived as an attempt to 'wind her up.'

A scuffle broke out between the two girls after Miss Collier's mother Gill, 53, called Miss Lees a 'flithy tramp' and Miss Lees retorted: 'I'm a tramp? Your daughter was in a hotel with me sh*gging!'

Miss Lees told the jury: 'I went to her house with the intention to sort everything out and speak to her mum and get out what we had been doing for many years. My aim of going round was to put everything straight with her mum.'

But Miss Collier said: 'She became obsessed with our relationship and wanted my parents to know, and she was jealous of my relationship with my mum as we are very close. -

'I felt that I wasn't quite ready to tell that, I knew they would accept me and still love me but because the relationship was so off and on, I didn't want to tell them in case it was off again.

'I wanted to be in a happy settled relationship. And I knew it wasn't enough what she was giving me. The relationship did last for three years, but we were on and off. Mum and dad welcomed her as they do with all my friends, but they thought she was just my friend, they didn't know about the relationship.

'She became homeless and my parents said she could move in, they helped with laundry and my dad even gave her money when she went on holiday with some friends. '

Her mother told the hearing: 'I saw Nicola coming out of the car and thought what is she doing here. I asked her, "What do you want?" to which she replied, "I want Alexa."

'Nicola was alleging that Alexa was writing things on social media about her but that wasn't going to let her make me scared to leave [the] house, so I took the bins out [but] Nicola came towards me very aggressive and shouting.

'She was screaming at me and blaming me for ruining the relationship and stopping them from being together. I kept telling Nicola to leave us alone but she wouldn't go and I was scared.

The personal trainer was treated in hospital for a fractured jaw, which required surgery using screws and a metal plate, and claimed Collier had punched her in the side of the face

'She was pouting and swinging her arms round and was being very irrational and irate - just awful. She had got very close to me. Alexa then came out and and said, "Go away leave my mum alone" and she got between us.

'Alexa was telling her to go home and Nicola started shouting again. She was saying horrible things that I would never say. She called Alexa a "fat c...t" and a "d*ke" and things like that. We live in a family area so to hear her shouting was shocking.

'Alexa then turned away and began walking inside when Nicola said 'Come on then' and started swinging again. Alexa shoved her whilst Nicola kicked her. It was bedlam, only way to describe it. Never been in a situation like that in my life. '

Mrs Collier added: 'Nicola was pestering her constantly and I was scared for Alexa's life and I was scared for my life. I lived in fear. The police were called but never followed it up, they just gave Alexa some phone numbers and claimed it was a domestic.

'I wasn't concerned about Alexa being in a relationship with her, she can be with whoever she wants she is her own woman and can make her own choices. I have no problem with Alexa being a lesbian she is her own woman.

'Nicola had been telling me she was in love with Alexa but I said, "If you loved her you wouldn't treat her the way you do - you would respect Alexa's right to tell me about her sexuality when she is ready".

Miss Lees told the court Miss Collier never made it clear she didn't want to be in a relationship and was scared of 'coming out' to her parents

'I told her, "You don't love her, if you did you wouldn't have done what you have done".

'I didn't antagonise Nicola, I was blank faced and told her to leave me and Alexa alone. I didn't push her. I did say, "Go away you filthy tramp" but because she was shouting she didn't hear me.

'In hindsight I shouldn't have gone outside but I wasn't going to let her bully me away. She was the aggressive one finger point at me and shouting in my face. My daughter did not punch her in the face.'

During her testimony, Miss Lees said: 'We were together for three years and split up and we were still seeing each other, it was on and off.

'She never made it clear she didn't want to be in a relationship with me.

'Alexa was telling me not to tell her mum and we were keeping it as a secret.

'She was scared of coming out to her parents. If she didn't want a relationship why was she with me for three years and still seeing me for a year?

'Alexa was still seeing me, still texting me and going to hotel rooms. Clearly she was just doing it to keep me there hanging on.'

The court heard how Miss Lees believed Collier was 'playing with her emotions' and told her she no longer wanted to be 'messed about'.

Miss Lees told the jury: 'I went to her house with the intention to sort everything out and speak to her mum and get out what we had been doing for many years.

'My aim of going round was to put everything straight with her mum.

'I felt we needed to talk about things and I was claimed to be this person that I'm not.

'I'm a nice person and everything needed to come out that we were in a relationship.

'I was told to go away because she didn't want me to tell her mum that she was in a relationship with me and still seeing me.

The jury returned its not guilty verdict after deliberating for four hours and 40 minutes and she was cleared after the jury heard Miss Lees (right) may have accidentally sustained her injuries in an earlier incident

'When I was told to go away her mum ran out of the house and started calling me a sl*g and sl*t, tramp and said "get away from my house".

'I went to get in the car and Alexa came following me.

'I was shouting that it was all her mother's fault that the relationship broke down and she forced us to split up.

'I did say if I was that much of a tramp and a sl*g why was your daughter sleeping with me for the last week.